Government was last night urged to officially explain its policy on the tendering process for public contracts after Telecommunications and Tourism Minister Renee Webb said she made no apologies for the fact that she wanted people who looked like her to be awarded the jobs.

The Bermuda Employers' Council is to write to Premier Jennifer Smith to ask whether that position is now Government policy or just Minister Webb's own opinion.

President Eddie Saints said he had been inundated all day yesterday from concerned businesses, many of them from the construction industry, who questioned whether there was any point in submitting tenders in future.

He said: "I will be sending a letter to the Premier. We want clarity from the Leader on whether this is Government policy or whether it is just the opinion of one Minister. It has ramifications and a lot of employers have been on the phone to me today.

"I believe Minister Webb's intention may have been only to say that her Government wanted the best for everyone, but the way it was said was inappropriate. It does in itself portray racism. That's the impression that comes across, even though it may not have been intended."

Ms Webb made the comments during a tirade on the Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) in the House of Assembly on Friday when she claimed the only reason the general contractor of the $70 million Berkeley project, Pro-Active Management, had been subjected to so much criticism and scrutiny was because it was owned by blacks.

She said the Government planned to change the economic paradigm of the Island in favour of blacks, and said she wanted blacks to win Government contracts.

She said questions raised over whether or not Berkeley had a performance bond in place were also racially motivated and claimed that numerous previous projects of the passed, including CedarBridge Academy, Westgate Prison and the airport did not have performance bonds in place. However, yesterday, that claim was heavily challenged.

Alan Burland, president of BCM McAlpine, which carried out the airport work, produced the documents showing that bonds had been in place for two separate projects, the arrivals and departure halls.

And he said it was normal for Government to insist that performance bonds (insurance) were in place before any contract was given for large projects. Mr. Burland said the Berkeley project was no different.

The BCM president wrote to Minister Webb yesterday with his concerns over her comments.

He said last night: "I was most disturbed with the comments about Berkeley because I don't think the questions being asked about the bond are connected to race.

"Minister Webb has commented about favouring black-owned firms, but what about other Bermudian groups.

"What about what we have done for the past 75 years. We have done a lot to train Bermudians and we have paid our taxes. About 70 percent of our company is made up of black Bermudians.

"A lot of the Bermudians we have trained have gone on to work for themselves."

But Ms Webb last night stood by her claim that both CedarBridge and the prison, as well as many other contracts, did not have bonds in place. And The Royal Gazette has confirmed that there was never a performance bond in place for Westgate.

Mel Wright, president of The Construction Association of Bermuda, also asked Government to explain its position on the tendering process last night.

He said: "The membership of the Construction Association of Bermuda comprises of construction companies, large and small, owned and operated by both black and white people, and therefore the association would like to see works awarded to contractors on a merit, or best bid, basis, rather than the application of any other criteria.

"If in its assessment of bids for public works, the Government is to express a preference towards a specific contractor infrastructure, this should be a clearly stated policy.

"In the case of Government work where spending public money is being spent, the bid process should be transparent and open. He said the association was in favour of fair and open competition for work among all contractors, regardless. And Mr. Wright said, in relation to the Berkeley project, the performance bond was a specific requirement for the job, and he said bonding was a very costly part of any bid.

Therefore, he said, all of the bidders would have accounted for it in their overall pricing, so it was only fair to ensure that it was actually put in place by Pro-Active.